Submillimeter photoconductivity of two-dimensional electron structures in Corbino geometry

The photoconductivity of a two-dimensional electron gas in the far IR range in a quantizing magnetic field is investigated for samples in Corbino geometry, which eliminates transport by edge states. It is shown that the photoelectric effect is more than simply the bolometric response of the system, acquiring a component induced by the direct involvement of photoexcited carriers in low-energy scattering processes. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 976–978 (August 1999)     

Long-wavelength emission in structures with quantum dots formed in the stimulated decomposition of a solid solution at strained islands

When an array of strained InAs nanoislands formed on a GaAs surface is overgrown by a thin (1–10 nm) layer of an indium-containing solid solution, stimulated decomposition of the solid solution is observed. This process causes the formation of zones of elevated indium concentration in the vicinity of the nanoislands. The volume of newly formed InAs quantum dots increases as a result of this phenomenon, producing a substantial long-wavelength shift of the photoluminescence line. This effect is enhanced by lowering the substrate temperature, and it depends weakly on the average width of the band gap of the solid solution. The indicated approach has been used successfully in achieving room-temperature emission at a wavelength of 1.3 μm. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 990–995 (August 1999)     

Influence of composition and anneal conditions on the optical properties of (In, Ga)As quantum dots in an (Al, Ga)As matrix

The optical properties of structures containing InGaAs quantum dots in GaAs and AlGaAs matrices grown by molecular-beam epitaxy are investigated. It is shown that increasing the In content in the quantum dots has the effect of raising the energy of carrier localization and increasing the energy distance between the ground state and the excited states of carriers in the quantum dots. An investigation of the influence of postgrowth annealing on the optical properties of the structures shows that the formation of vertically coupled quantum dots and the use of a wide-gap AlGaAs matrix enhances the thermal stability of the structures. Moreover, high-temperature (830 °C) thermal annealing can improve the quality of the AlGaAs layers in structures with vertically coupled InGaAs quantum dots in an AlGaAs matrix. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using postgrowth annealing to improve the characteristics of quantum dot lasers. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 91–96 (January 1999)     

BeCdSe: A new material for the active region in devices operating in the blue-green region of the spectrum

Submonolayer cyclic epitaxy was used for the first time to obtain a bulk layer of BeCdSe solid solution 100 nm thick with a Be content close to 46%, which corresponded to the composition lattice-matched to the GaAs substrate. In addition, low-temperature lasing at a wavelength of 460 nm with a threshold power density of about 40 kW/cm² in a structure with multiple ZnSe/BeCdSe quantum wells was also attained for the first time. The band-bending parameter in the BeCdSe solid solutions was estimated at 4.5 eV.     

Neutron transmutation doping of silicon 30Si monoisotope with phosphorus

Phosphorus-doped silicon ³⁰Si monoisotope samples with a highly homogeneous impurity distribution at a concentration of 5 × 10¹⁶ cm^?3 were obtained for the first time by means of neutron transmutation doping.     

Observation of velocity overshoot in silicon inversion layers

Employing a test structure, velocity overshoot in silicon inversion layers is observed at room temperature. For channel lengths longer than 0.3 μm, the velocity/field relation follows the well-known behavior with no channel length dependence. The first indication of velocity overshoot is seen at a channel length of 0.22 μm, while at L=0.12 μm, drift velocities up to 35% larger than the long-channel value are measured     

Heteroepitaxial growth of InAs on Si: A new type of quantum dot

The mechanism for heteroepitaxial growth in the InAs/Si system is studied by reflection highenergy electron diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and photoluminescence. For certain growth conditions, InAs nanostructures are found to develop on the Si surface immediately during the growth process in the course of molecular beam epitaxy. The range of substrate temperatures that lead to formation of nanosized islands is determined. InAs quantum dots grown on a buffer Si layer with a silicon layer of thickness 50 nm grown on the top produced photoluminescence lines at a wavelength of 1.3 μm at 77K and 1.6 μm at 300 K. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 1066–1069 (September 1999)     

Characteristics of stimulated emission from an optically pumped GaN/AlGaN double heterostructure

The luminescence properties of a GaN/Al_0.1Ga_0.9N double heterostructure grown by vapor-phase deposition from organometallic compounds are studied. When luminescence is observed from the end, the radiation intensity shows a sharply defined threshold dependence on the pump density. The threshold excitation density at T=77 K was ∼40 kW/cm² and the wavelength of the stimulated emission was λ=357 nm. The long-wavelength shift of the emission line at high pump densities may be attributed to renormalization of the band gap caused by many-particle interactions in the electron-hole plasma. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 23, 53–59 (August 12, 1997)     

Modelling the effect of climate change on recovery of acidified freshwaters: relative sensitivity of individual processes in the MAGIC model

The MAGIC model was used to evaluate the relative sensitivity of several possible climate-induced effects on the recovery of soil and surface water from acidification. A common protocol was used at 14 intensively studied sites in Europe and eastern North America. The results show that several of the factors are of only minor importance (increase in pCO(2) in soil air and runoff, for example), several are important at only a few sites (seasalts at near-coastal sites, for example) and several are important at nearly all sites (increased concentrations of organic acids in soil solution and runoff, for example). In addition changes in forest growth and decomposition of soil organic matter are important at forested sites and sites at risk of nitrogen saturation. The trials suggest that in future modelling of recovery from acidification should take into account possible concurrent climate changes and focus specially on the climate-induced changes in organic acids and nitrogen retention.     

Gain characteristics of quantum-dot injection lasers

The current dependence of the optical gain in lasers based on self-organized InGaAs quantum dots in a AlGaAs/GaAs matrix is investigated experimentally. A transition from lasing via the ground state of quantum dots to lasing via an excited state is observed. The saturated gain in the latter case is approximately four times greater than for the ground state. This result is attributable to the fourfold degeneracy of the excited level of quantum dots. The effect of the density of the quantum-dot array on the threshold characteristics is investigated. A lower-density array of dots is characterized by a lower threshold current density in the low-loss regime, because the transmission current is lower, while dense quantum-dot arrays characterized by a high saturated gain are preferable at high threshold gains. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 1111–1114 (September 1999)